Supply of Oil-Based Paint Thins as New Rule Takes Effect

The problem with oil paints is that as they dry or sit out in the open, they give off volatile organic compounds, or VOCs, that not only make the paint smell but interact with sun and heat to create ozone pollution. Recchia said alkyds create 170,000 tons of emissions a day in the so-called Ozone Transport Region. "It's one of the largest causes of VOC emissions, and it's comparable to some of the industrial plant sources," he said.

The rules do not eliminate VOCs but set such low limits that most products had to be reformulated into latex versions. And a few industrial-use paints, such as those for metal or roofs, were allowed to stay on the market. But the interior versions most popular with painters are going away. For high-end painters, oil has long been the covering of choice for wood trim and certain other applications.

"We're just not going to be able to do as nice a looking job as previously," said painter Mitchell Fagan, whose jobs include faux painting styles that rely on some of the oils taken off the market. "Once I've used what I've stockpiled, we won't be able to achieve certain looks."

Diez almost waxes poetic about the benefits of oil paint.

"With oil, you walk into the house, it's such a beautiful thing, it's hard to describe," he said. "Manufacturers claim what they have on the market is just as good as oil. It's not. It's nowhere near."

Other painters say the new products are just as good once you get to know them. But everyone agrees there's simply less to choose from now.

"Probably of the 15 to 20 [products] that were available before, maybe five or six came out to replace them," said Bryan Holland, manager of the Monarch Paint and Wallcovering Co. store on Connecticut Avenue in the District.

Some manufacturers have not done this reengineering willingly. Sherwin-Williams Co., the nation's largest paint maker, filed a lawsuit in Pennsylvania fighting the new laws, which it later dropped, but it still has a suit pending in New York. The company wants an exemption or extension for products it hasn't been able to reformulate, such as the oil-based wood stains sold under the Minwax brand.

"Oil-based stains are in effect being eliminated. Technology is not available to replace those," said Bill Rafie, director of marketing for Sherwin-Williams's commercial segment.

For a while, at least, some painters are looking for ways to beat the system. Quart-size containers have not been eliminated because they are such a small market that they don't pose much of an environmental threat. Some stores report that customers are buying -- at great cost -- four quarts to get a gallon. Others are stockpiling. And still others are getting behind the wheel.

Technically, road-tripping outside the Ozone Transport Region to get your paint fix is illegal, but there's not much enforcement, Recchia said.

Still, some painters don't want to take the risk, so they're just throwing in the towel and using whatever they can buy in the Washington area.

"I've been told the first person who gets caught doing this will wish they were never born," said Terry McEnaney, owner of Just Right Painting Co. in Alexandria. "So I figured I don't want to go through that."